[29]. Literally “Pig’s ear.”
[30]. And I, at what risks and perils, go and waste myself expending saliva! What folly!
[31]. Extorsion des nédoymkàs, une espèce de peine corporelle, en vigueur en Russie, surtout dans le cas où le paysan, par suite d’une mauvaise récolte, n’a pas de quoi payer les impôts.—Chenapan.[[63]]
[32]. Oh, my poor mother! Oh, my sister, wasting her youth in the vain hope of a husband!
[33]. “The law, good gracious, we have fifteen volumes of law!”
[34]. 1853.
[35]. Mr. Chenapan has again made rather a muddle of his Russian. “Zvon pobièdy, razdavaïsia!” (“Bells of victory, ring out!”) is the opening line of one of Derzhàvin’s pompous, servile, and essentially jingoish odes on the victories of Catherine II.—Translator.
[36]. “This is our way of giving tips.”
[37]. A well-known French actress of that time in St. Petersburg.—Author.
[38]. Evidently a mistake; there are no municipal counsellors in Russia.—Author.